The safety of your family is a paramount concern when choosing a home in Pennsylvania. You want to find a neighborhood your family will enjoy and feel safe in. You want a town where crime rates are low and violence is at a minimum.
Whether you currently live in Pennsylvania or are moving here for work or school, you may be interested in scoping out the safest neighborhoods the state has to offer. Niche® can help you determine where they are in the list found below.
Niche, a website that helps people find the right neighborhoods to live in, assigned grades to each location in the state, based on crime rates as measured by the FBI in six areas:
- Larceny
- Vehicle theft
- Burglary
- Murder
- Robbery
- Assault
They also considered survey responses from users about the safety of their towns. Here are the rankings they came up with, starting with the safest place to live in PA.
1. Mayfield
Topping the list of safest places in Pennsylvania is a quaint town in Lackawanna County with a population of under 1,800. Not far from Scranton, Mayfield once contained a thriving silk mill and housed many people employed in the coal mining industry.
Why is the town so safe? Property and violent crimes are rare to nonexistent, and its police force and fire department have excellent reputations for responding quickly to complaints, according to the Niche user survey. Mayfield is considered a quiet town where people are friendly and caring.
2. West Torresdale Township
This neighborhood in Philadelphia has a greater number of residents than many of the state’s other safest places to live, at just over 2,400. Home values are higher than the national average, and both violent and property crime levels are very low. The township often receives recognition for its diversity.
3. Blacklick Township
With just over 2,000 residents, this is one of the more populous areas on the list of safest places to live in Pennsylvania. Home values rank well below the national average. Blacklick sits on the outskirts of Johnstown, in Cambria County.
4. West Pike Run Township
A suburb of Pittsburgh, West Pike Run Township, is a rural area with a lot of farms and forestland. It has a small population, with less than 1,800 residents, and is located in Washington County. The area’s crime levels are almost nil, putting it near the top of this list.
5. Mill Hall
A borough in southern Clinton County, Mill Hall is situated near Bald Eagle Mountain. The historic Nathan Harvey House was built two centuries ago by the town’s founder, Nathan Harvey, and is recognized by the National Register of Historic Places.
6. Bally
The Philadelphia suburb, with a population of just over 1,250 people, was settled as a Mennonite and Catholic town with the original name of Goshenhoppen. It’s located in an agricultural area often called Butter Valley, which features a large number of dairy farms.
7. Gallitzin Township
A tiny town located between Altoona and Ebensburg, Gallitzin Township is part of Cambria County. It’s known as a quiet community with home values much lower than the national average. It borders on a large patch of state game lands. Gallitzin isn’t too far from Horseshoe Curve, a famed railroad engineering feat in the Allegheny Mountains.
8. Summit Township
This Somerset County town is largely rural, and it’s known as the location of the W. Bollman Bridge and Company, which also holds a spot on the National Register of Historic Places. The area has virtually no property crime, making it a safe place to live and raise a family. Note that there is also a Summit Township in Erie County, which did not make Niche’s top 10.
9. Gilpin Township
Located between Pittsburgh and Ford City, Gilpin Township sits on the confluence of the Allegheny and Kiskiminetas rivers. The Allegheny River dam is on the National Register of Historic Places. Like many places on this list, the township has a small population, with fewer than 2,600 residents. Violent crime is virtually nonexistent in this town, making it one of the safest places in the state.
10. Leet Township
This Pittsburgh suburb has exceptional public schools and an A+ rating for family life. The place was named after the horse owned by one of its early residents, and it became its own township after the Civil War. It’s a tiny area, with a population of less than 1,700. With trails for hiking and other fitness options available, Leet Township offers great family fun you can enjoy without worry of encroaching crime.
Explore the Safest Places to Live in PA
If you want to live in an area with one of the lowest crime rates in the state, these 10 towns offer you nice locations and the safety you crave. If you find one that’s the right fit for you, check out our mortgage options to help get you into a home at a great rate.